Episode 1504 - 15 Chefs Compete
The fourth episode of Season 15 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on February 3, 2016. On that episode, duck was the main ingredient, a loud mouth was put in their place during prep, one team continued to dominate the other at dinner service, and the first team switch occurred. Intro While going back to the dorms, the red team were angry that Ariel went against the team’s nominee choices by nominating Vanessa over Manda, and Dannie asked if they were on the same team. However, Ariel argued that Vanessa was the weaker chef, and told Dannie that she was put on the spot by Ramsay. As Dannie tried to get Ariel to quiet her voice, the latter left in frustration, with Alan commenting that the claws were out. Team Challenge The next day, the Sous Chefs woke everybody up at 5:35 am, though Alan complained that it was too early to be dealing with that. Sous Chef Aaron gave the chefs camo clothing and life vests to put on, and informed them that Ramsay was waiting outside for them. While Manda believed that they were hunting, Eddie remarked that he has been hunting since he was eight-years-old, and was excited that he might get to kill something. After a ride in the SUV’s, the chef arrived at a local park pond with Ramsay waiting for them. While Meese was confused over what was happening, she believed that there were some people who should not have guns, referring to Jackie. Then, Ramsay explained that he and Marino had been taking in the fresh air, and asked if anybody hunted ducks before. When only Ashley, Chad, and Eddie revealed that they did, Ramsay commented that a lot of them were probably more comfortable with rubber ducks, much to Eddie’s dismay. For the Duck Challenge, each chef would be in a canoe with a chef from the other team, grab five rubber ducks that had ingredients on them, and when they came back to Hell’s Kitchen, they would be competing head to head. After, Marino tossed a bucket full of rubber ducks into the water, but as Ramsay wanted more, he had a helicopter drop a lot more into the water, with Joe comparing it to Niagara Falls. The pairs had 10 minutes to collect their rubber ducks, though Kevin from the blue team was forced to sit out in order to even up the teams to 7 each. As the chefs were collecting ducks, the pairs had problems agreeing on ingredients, with Chad concerned that his boat mate Ariel was trying to sabotage him, and tried to be firm with her. 4 minutes left, Kristin wanted to get purple sweet potatoes, and while Jared was uncertain as it was a curve ball, he decided not to argue about it. 2 minutes left, Jackie said that while she felt Frank was a strong competitor, she herself felt that she was strong as well, and believed that her dish would be better than his. Eventually, both teams collected their ingredients on time. After returning to Hell’s Kitchen, the chefs had 40 minutes to cook their duck dishes, though Manda was concerned about overcooking her breast as she never worked with duck that big before, and compared them to Ashley’s boob job. In the blue kitchen, Eddie revealed that it has been a while since he last cooked a duck breast, but he compared it to driving a manual as, despite a couple of bumps, would be smooth sailings. In the red kitchen, Jackie decided to puree her wax beans for an experiment, and while she was nervous, she had a plan in motion. 90 seconds left, Frank was struggling as he never worked with duck before, and knew that it was something that could not be done easily. Eventually, the chefs cooked and plated their dishes on time. Josiah Citrin came in as a guest judge, he and Ramsay would judge on a scale of 1-5, and the team with the most points was the winner. On the first round, Manda and Joe were up first, and he presented his duck with bok choy basmati rice tamale. However, while both Citrin and Ramsay felt that it looked more like a spring roll than a tamale, the dish tasted good, and Joe scored 6 points, with Ramsay stating that he would have given him more points had he not said tamale. Manda’s duck dish was criticized for being overcooked, with Ramsay comparing the taste to pork, much to her disappointment as she hated letting down Ramsay. So, Manda scored 2 points, and the blue team led 6-2. On the second round, Chad’s duck breast with pomegranate ju scored 5 points for a clumsy presentation despite tasting good, while Ariel’s duck breast with pomegranate glaze scored 5 points for being underwhelming, and the score was 11-7 for the blue team. On the third round, Jackie’s duck with wax bean puree scored 5 points for having no finesse, while Frank’ duck with wax bean risotto scored 7 points for being impressive, and the blue team led 18-12. On the fourth round, Dannie’s duck and sautéed collier greens were praised for the collier green aspect, but criticized for having an overcooked duck, and she scored 5 points. Then, Alan’s duck with deep fried collier greens was criticized for being greasy and bland, he scored 2 points, and the blue team led 20-17. On the fifth round, while Meese’s duck leg was criticized as the judges felt that she should have used the duck breast cut instead, they felt that it was not as tough as they thought, and gave her 4 points. Hassan’s duck breast with cabbage ragu was heavily criticized for an appalling presentation, he scored 2 points, and the blue team led 22-21. On the sixth round, Eddie presented his pan-seared duck breast with garlic Cipollini onion had an access amount of raw white fat still left, with Ramsay noting that it could have shut down the restaurant if eaten, much to his dismay. Despite that, Eddie’s dish was praised for having great flavors, and he scored 4 points. After, Ashley’s duck breast with blueberry-pancetta infused sauce was criticized for a clumsy presentation, but praised for the seasoning. So, Ashley scored 6 points, and the score was 27-26 for the red team. On the final round, Hassan was praying that Jared would win it for the blue team as the latter presented his duck breast with celery root puree, poached mushrooms, and braised purple potatoes. While the presentation was criticized for being clumsy, the dish was praised for being cooked perfectly, with Citrin calling it the best-cooked duck of that day, and Jared scored 6 points. After, Kristin presented her pan-seared duck breast with leek and celery root puree, and purple sweet potato chips, and while the chips were praised for tasting great, the duck itself was criticized for being overcooked, and having a greasy coating. So, Kristin scored three points, the blue team won the challenge 32-30, and a pissed Ariel deemed Kristin’s performance an ultimate embarrassment. Reward The blue team was rewarded with a day on a private yacht with champagne, and eating dinner at the Penthouse Restaurant. During the reward, Frank was amazed at the size of the yacht, and believed that size did matter. Eddie was eating a lot of oysters on the boat, and admitted that he would not be surprised if he ended up with gout after. At dinner, Ramsay joined the men, which excited Joe, and as they discussed his cuts, Jared was stunned that they were talking to Ramsay as a person, and believed that nothing would touch him for the rest of his life. Then, Joe asked Ramsay if he could use him as a reference on his resume after the competition, but everybody laughed about that, and Eddie believed that it would never happen. Punishment The red team were punished by prepping ducks for the following service. Jackie was pissed as she thought the red team was getting better, but instead, they were getting worse. During the punishment, Kristin compared the dead ducks to a voodoo shed, and Dannie called it a little disturbing. Later, Sous Chef Christina informed the red team that their dinner was on the patio, only to find out that it was duck feet sandwiches, which grossed out Ashley. While most of the women could not get through their dinner, Jackie ate hers with no problem. However, Jackie's obnoxious attitude irritated Meese, who called the former both a joke and a shame face for the red team. Before service The next day, the chefs began prepping for service, and while the blue team were still riding high from the victory, the red team turned to Sous Chef Christina for directions on getting organized. After Sous Chef Christina told them to make a list of what they needed, Kristin noted that it was never titled as they knew what it was. However, Jackie decided to rename the list as “The Fucking List”, though an annoyed Dannie asked why she would do that, and Kristin knew that disrespect like that would not fly anywhere. Then, Sous Chef Christina berated Jackie for doing that, and lectured the red team that anybody who did that again would be finishing the list. But, when Jackie tried to argue that it was not disrespectful, a livid Sous Chef Christina sent her to the chef’s table, warned her that she would fire her if it happened in her own kitchen, and accused Jackie of not even caring, before deeming her the cancer of the red team. That pissed off Ashley as it brought down the whole morale, and wanted her gone. While on break, Jackie claimed that she was a jokey person who did get serious at services, but believed that these morons did not see it. However, Manda sternly told Jackie to never talk back to Sous Chef Christina, but while the latter argued that she did not want to get disrespected herself, Kristin reminded her that Sous Chef Christina was their boss, and suggested that she get back in her good graces, before apologizing to any chef she rolled her eyes to. When they went back to work, Jackie took Sous Chef Christina to the pantry room, and apologized for writing profanity on the prep list. Sous Chef Christina accepted Jackie’s apology, though sternly told her to prove she could be a reliable chef. After, Ramsay had both teams lined up, and announced that for that night’s service, he was opening up the chef’s tables for some VIP guests. The red team would be serving Kris Jenner, with Kristin calling her Oprah huge, and the blue team would be serving Dita Von Teese. After telling both teams to make sure their guests had a memorable dining experience, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen. Dinner Service A duck confit appetizer was served tableside by Dannie and Frank. After Ramsay called out the red team’s first order, he discovered that Ashley’s water was not boiling, and that her gas was off. That annoyed Ariel as it was Ashley’s second time on appetizers, and wanted to kick the latter in her shins. In the blue kitchen, Von Teese’s party arrived at the chef’s table, and Eddie was taken aback by her look, only for Ramsay to pull him back to reality and asked him to wait on her. However, Eddie took a little longer, leading Ramsay to remind him that he was not getting her phone number. Despite that, the blue team were pushing out appetizers to their customers. 25 minutes into service, Ramsay reminded the women that they had yet to serve any food while the men were on their fourth table of appetizers, just as Jenner’s party came into the chef’s table. As Ramsay welcomed Jenner, Manda was taken aback by her smile. Now working on Jenner’s order, Manda felt that she had it, but her risotto was bland, and Ramsay accused her of not caring as she claimed to have tasted it before. While Manda called herself stupid for that, she managed to get her refire accepted. In the blue kitchen, the men were beginning to work on entrées, but Kevin struggled to communicate with his teammates, much to Ramsay’s dismay. So, Hassan decided to help Kevin out, as he wanted the latter to keep his focus. It paid off as the men’s entrées were being sent out. In the red kitchen, the women were pushing out appetizers, and were now beginning with entrées. While Jackie was confident on meat, Ariel was a little concerned as chicken and Wellingtons had to cook at the same time, and the former did not drop the chicken with the Wellington. Despite Jackie claiming that meat was not that hard, her chicken was pink, and Ramsay was angrier that she did not see it after slicing it. While Jackie claimed she would have sent it out in her restaurant despite the pinkness, Meese believed that Jackie had no right to be in Ramsay’s kitchen because of that. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay told Eddie to serve Von Teese’s entrées to her, and believed that he managed to please her, while claiming that it counted as a date. One hour and fifteen minutes into service, Jackie’s refire was accepted, and the red team were working on Jenner’s table. However, Meese failed to communicate to Jackie over times, which annoyed the latter as it was difficult to cook without communication. While Jackie and Ariel brought up their dishes, Meese failed to bring up her garnishes, even though she claimed it was there. Then, Ramsay told Meese that he did not what his guests eating on an installment plan, much to Jenner’s humor, and then, she sent up mashed potatoes on a tray. A livid Ramsay brought the red team to the pantry room, lectured them that the mashed potatoes were just dumped on the tray, and commented that even prison food was served better than what Meese did, before smashing it to the ground. As the red team went back to the kitchen, an angry Kristin yelled that they sucked, and Ramsay told Eddie and Alan to stay on desserts, while the rest of the blue team went to help the red team out. As the men began helping the red team out, an annoyed Manda remarked that the men came in kamikaze style, and Hassan’s vocal leadership annoyed Ashley, only for him to retort that it was how he talked. With the blue team’s help and Hassan’s leadership, the red team were able to serve all of their entrées, and after Sous Chef Christina suggested that the women thank the men for helping them out twice now, Jackie did, but mutter angrily over her team’s poor performance. Post-mortem After clearing down, Ramsay had the red team lined up, and after commenting that he did not expect to be in that position again, he called them a fucking embarrassment. So, the red team were named the clear losers, and Ramsay asked them to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Kristin wondered if she could take another night with Jackie, especially when Sous Chef Christina called the latter the cancer of the red team. While Jackie considered Manda and Ashley for elimination due to their poor performance, Ashley argued that Meese was way behind on garnish, and only got four tables out thanks to her. However, Meese argued that she thought garnishes would be easy. Then, Jackie voiced out how pathetic the red team was, but Kristin argued that she screwed up a couple of tables, with Ariel asking Jackie why she never told them about the pink chicken earlier. When Jackie yelled that she would have served it regardless of the cook, Ariel remarked that they could not have someone on their team that was okay with serving raw chicken. Then, Kristin told Jackie that she has been embarrassing the team all day, but Jackie argued that she at least apologized with Sous Chef Christina, and felt that her dumbass teammates were not letting it go, before calling everything fucked up on the red team. Elimination Manda announced Jackie as the red team’s first nominee, and Meese as the second. During their pleas, Ramsay asked Meese why she always dwarfed in silence at services, and while she did not know why, she claimed to be passionate and wanted to learn more. Then, Jackie said that she had passion and was a team player, and believed that the red team were turned off by her jokey personality. When Ramsay noticed Manda shaking her head by that comment, she said that her belief was that Jackie was a distraction and made the entire team look bad for disrespecting authority. In the end, Meese was eliminated for being nominated three times in a row, and not being vocal enough at services. Meese was so upset with her elimination, she could not get through her exit interview without breaking down into tears. Team switch After Meese left, Ramsay told Jackie to stay at the front, called Hassan up to the front, and announced that he proved that night that he was the most vocal chef out there, and that he led his team to victory. So, Ramsay wanted Hassan to do the same with the red team, and therfore reassigned him to said team. After, Ramsay urged the women to find out from Hassan what the blue team’s secret was, but urged them do it quickly. While being dismissed, Kristin welcomed Hassan to hell as the red team was crazy, and while Alan still thought that the blue team was strong, he was worried that Hassan might be the reason for the red team to get rolling again. Then, Hassan knew that the women were not communicating at all, and that it was his job to get them together, before declaring it his biggest challenge. Ramsay's comment: "After being nominated three times in a row due to the lack of communication, Meese may want to consider changing her name to Mouse." Category:Episodes Category:Season 15